Land Mines / en Canadian drive and audacity needed to tackle world problems, 茄子直播 conference told /news/canadian-drive-and-audacity-needed-tackle-world-problems-u-t-conference-told <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Canadian drive and audacity needed to tackle world problems, 茄子直播 conference told</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Maria.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kiTMWmPA 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Maria.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=NJ0tPWq0 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Maria.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=n7fHhnrt 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Maria.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kiTMWmPA" alt="Photo of Maria Banda"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lavende4</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-11-07T15:02:08-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 15:02" class="datetime">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 15:02</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Maria Banda (right): Canada needs to be radical again (photo by Richard Fitoussi)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/terry-lavender" hreflang="en">Terry Lavender</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Terry Lavender</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/bill-graham-centre-contemporary-international-history" hreflang="en">Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/refugees" hreflang="en">Refugees</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/land-mines" hreflang="en">Land Mines</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/trinity-college" hreflang="en">Trinity College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/climate-change" hreflang="en">Climate Change</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/international" hreflang="en">International</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Twenty years ago, a group of Canadian diplomats, politicians and civil servants used some very undiplomatic pressure tactics to get a landmark treaty banning landmines through the United Nations.</p> <p>The drive and audacity that led to that treaty is desperately needed today to help the world find a solution to problems such as climate change and displaced people, University of Toronto researchers told a conference in Toronto last week.</p> <p>The conference, The Ottawa Process Twenty Years Later, was organized by 茄子直播鈥檚 <a href="http://billgrahamcentre.utoronto.ca/">Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History</a>. It was held to commemorate the 20<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction.</p> <p>Speakers at the two-day conference included Foreign Affairs Minister&nbsp;St茅phane Dion and many of the key players in what was called the&nbsp;Ottawa Process, such as former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy.&nbsp;</p> <p>茄子直播 participants included Faculty of Law research associate <strong>Maria Banda</strong>;&nbsp;<strong>Erin Mooney</strong>, a senior research associate at 茄子直播鈥檚 Trinity College who is also a senior protection adviser to the United Nations, Protection Capacity (ProCap);&nbsp;and <strong>Robert Bothwell</strong>, a history professor at&nbsp;the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science and 茄子直播's Munk School of Global Affairs.</p> <p><a href="https://vimeo.com/190510668">Watch video highlights of the conference</a></p> <p>Banda, who also practises international law in Washington, D.C., said Canada should lead the drive to help vulnerable countries deal with the effects of climate change.</p> <p>鈥淐anada used to be good at helping because we were able to come up with innovative, creative ideas for some of the big challenges of the day,鈥 Banda said. 鈥淲e need to be a bit radical again.鈥</p> <p>Climate change is the most urgent issue of the day, she said,&nbsp;because it is more than an environmental problem. It鈥檚 also a threat to peace and security, especially in countries less resilient to shocks than our own, she said, noting that&nbsp;Syria鈥檚 civil war, for example, is rooted in a drought that has lasted for a decade.</p> <p>鈥淚f Canada wants to help, it needs to think bigger, think long-term," she said. "How do we prevent another Syria? How do we help hundreds of millions of people keep their homes? Because even if we win this particular battle, we鈥檙e still at the risk of losing the larger war&nbsp;because climate-induced disasters will keep sending more refugees, more migrants every year.鈥</p> <p>While acknowledging the current refugee crisis, Mooney said the current focus on refugees is&nbsp;ignoring internally displaced people 鈥 those who have been forced to leave their homes because of wars and other upheavals, but who aren鈥檛 classified as refugees because they haven鈥檛 crossed international borders. Sixty-five million people around the world have been displaced, she said.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 a global crisis."&nbsp;</p> <p>She added that countries producing mass displacement are found in every region of the world:&nbsp;Africa, Middle East and&nbsp;South America.</p> <p>Displaced people are in considerable danger, she said.</p> <p>鈥淒isplacement, whatever its causes, exposes people to a wide range of risks: loss of home, loss of livelihood and&nbsp;separation of families. They are also exposed to protection risks 鈥 child trafficking, forced recruitment, sexual violence and so forth.鈥</p> <p>Thanks to its international reputation and success with the Syrian refugee resettlement program, Canada has the moral authority to urge the world to adopt more stringent protection policies for internally displaced people. But policies aren鈥檛 enough, Mooney&nbsp;acknowledged. They need to be backed up with support and security for humanitarian workers and the displaced people they are working with. And here, Canada can play a role as well.</p> <p>鈥淭his is an opportunity for Canada鈥檚 plan to resume peacekeeping operations,鈥 she said. 鈥淲herever we choose to deploy a peacekeeping operation, there are bound to be displaced persons and bound to be a need for a protection mandate.鈥</p> <p>But&nbsp;鈥渨e need a full-court press, a messianic drive鈥&nbsp;similar to the Ottawa Process,&nbsp;Mooney added.</p> <p>鈥淭his is an urgent challenge, one of epic and ever increasing proportions, and it has massive repercussions for international peace and security.鈥</p> <p><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/190510668" webkitallowfullscreen width="640"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 07 Nov 2016 20:02:08 +0000 lavende4 102225 at